Arts & Music

Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events

Huzzah, it's Friday! Listen to this new jam from Mary J. Blige and Disclosure and check out our list of the five best things you can do with your weekend:

FuzicEvery fourth Friday, DJ Fuze — best known for being a member of seminal Oakland hip-hop group Digital Underground — takes over the sound system at Era Art Bar. He knows his stuff — he produced for Tupac and worked with artists like The Luniz, Goapele, and Dave Chappelle. And although Fuze’s background is in hip-hop, he also spins R&B, soul, disco, and funk. At his monthly party at Era, he incorporates sounds from the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa into his set as well. With such a diverse array of music, you won’t be bored. Friday, Jan. 24. 9 p.m., $10. OaklandEra.com — Madeleine Key

Winemaker DinnerWho can tell you the most about wines? The folks who make them! A Winemaker Dinner on Friday at the sommelier-owned Barrel Room will feature vintners pouring and discussing the Italian wines of Fratelli Mossio and Ludovica and Giuseppe Lusenti. Options in the prix-fixe repast prepared by veteran Oliveto Chef Sam Paulding will include Romanesco bisque, tapenade, lasagne, pork tenderloin, hazelnut torte, and house-made gelato. A vegetarian version of the menu will be available, too. Friday, Jan. 24. 6 p.m., seatings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; $80. BarrelRoomOak.com — Anneli Rufus

CompostConAn estimated 40 percent of the American food supply is wasted every year, creating greenhouse gas emissions, blocking up our landfills, and costing us $165 billion annually. So while composting isn’t mandatory for East Bay residents, it’s clearly a good idea to do so. On that note, the first ever CompostCon, held at the Oakland Convention Center on Saturday, will teach you everything you’ve wanted to know about composting, and more: Workshops for kids and adults will touch on topics such as the uses of compost, edible gardens and urban gardening, reducing food waste, and sustainable landscaping practices using drought-friendly plants. Humboldt County bluegrass band the Compost Mountain Boys will supply tunes throughout the day, and a contest will award attendees in the best garden-, compost-, or food-related costume. Saturday, Jan. 25. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $5-$20 suggested donation, free for those in costume. HealthySoil.org/compostcon.html — Zaineb Mohammed

Tom Meinhold Photography

Peking Acrobats

Peking AcrobatsIn 1999, the Peking Acrobats set an unusual world record: They created the tallest human chair stack — six people stacked onto seven chairs holding a handstand for five seconds. The world-famous troupe — which will perform this weekend at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall — first began performing in North America in 1986 and quickly rose to fame, appearing on shows such as Nickelodean’s Unfabulous and in the movie Ocean’s Eleven. Its performance at Zellerbach will include tricks such as balancing a human pyramid on top of a moving bicycle, juggling hats and jars with both hands and feet, spinning plates, and wire-walking. The group’s dazzling acrobatic feats will be accompanied by a live musical performance by Jigu! Thunder Drums, featuring musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments. Saturday, Jan. 25 (2 & 8 p.m.) and Sunday, Jan. 26 (3 p.m.). $22-$56. CalPerfs.Berkeley.edu — Z.M.

Matt Montgomery and Van Dyke Parks with Awesöme OrchestraSupergroups are, by nature, logistical nightmares. Those incorporating living legends are even less sustainable. Which is why you should head to the Malonga Casquelourd Center this weekend, when composer, arranger, producer extraordinaire Van Dyke Parks’ ornate, panoramic Americana — as heard in his lyrics for Brian Wilson’s fabled Smile project, and in his sweeping arrangements for Joanna Newsom’s Ys — will collide with Oakland singer-songwriter Matt Montgomery’s Sir Paul-indebted pop delivery and the genre-busting approach of the Bay Area’s own Awesöme Orchestra. Sunday’s show celebrates the release of Petty Troubles: an album of Montgomery-penned songs, recorded live with an ensemble of 28 local musicians over a single day, and will be accompanied by a documentary film chronicling the zippy creative process. Few singer-songwriters, let alone a modest, low-key figure like Montgomery, are ever lucky enough to assemble such a dream-team onstage, making this improbable, one-off collaboration all the more exciting. Sunday, Jan. 26. 4-6 p.m., $14-$5. PettyTroubles.BrownPaperTickets.com — Taylor Kaplan